Tripod



Jan. 21, 1941- N. w. REDMER TRIPOD Filed March 4, 1939 Patented Jan. 21,1941 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE TRIPOD Norman W. Redmer, Chicago, Ill.

Application March 4, 1939, Serial No. 259,724

5 Claims.

My invention relates to photographic tripods, and it has for its objectthe provision of an improved photographic tripod having certainadvantages of construction, function and the like, as will be clear fromthe following description.

Looking now at the drawing,

Fig. l is a plan view of the tripod with the legs removed therefrom toconserve space and the hinge members to which they are normally securedextended out in a radial position;

Fig. 2 is an elevational View of the portion of the tripod shown in Fig.1;

Fig. 3 is a sectional View taken through the tripod with the legsattached, the figure being such as would be taken through the head alongthe line 3-3 of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 4 is an enlarged sectional view taken through a portion of one ofthe legs to illustrate a feature of construction.

Referring now to the drawing, I show a head comprising a top member Iand a bottom member III, although, as will be made clear, the relativepositions of these two members may be reversed. Elach of the members IIIand M is hexagonal, and they are in general complementary to each other.Alternate sides are provided with vertical edge slots I2, and, extendingat right angles to the plane of the slots and parallel with thecontiguous edge of the hexagonal members, tubular openings I 3, formedin the opposing faces of the two members I0 and Ill, are provided.Looking at Fig. 1, which shows the position of the tubular openings I3in dotted lines, it will be seen that these tubular openings terminateside by side on alternate sides of the hexagonal members and would crosseach other if extended. The result is a regular design which is takenadvantage of, in a manner to be described, in the production ofthetripod.

Each leg of the tripod has a top pivot member I 4 with an upper headportion It of such a size as to fit snugly within one of the slots I2.The head portion I6 carries a hinge pin I! which lies within the tubularopening I3 on opposite sides of the vertical edge slots I2. I Therelative dimensions are such that the pivot pin I1 will always maintaina space between the members Ill and II so that, in a manner to bedescribed, tension may be maintained on the hinge pin at all times orlooseness or floppiness of the tripod legs avoided.

The center mounting screw I 8 extends through a center opening in themember I 0 and has a lower portion threaded into the member I I. Theupper portion of the center mounting screw I8 has a wider threadedsection with a shoulder which engages over the top face of the memberIII to firmly clamp the center of the members I0 and II together. Thelower end of the center mounting screw I8 projects through the member II, and, by employing threads at .the top and bottom of the screw I8,which are standard in cameras, I am able to adapt the tripod for usewith the European as well as the American cameras which have theirrecesses for attaching the 10 tripods to the camera on differentstandards.

Centered around the members I0 and II, in

'the form of a triangle, are three screws I9. They are recessed in themember ID, as shown, the head acting as a stop and engaging over ashoulder in the member Ill. The threaded shank engages in the member IllIt will be seen that each of these screws is adjacent two of the hingepins so that each hinge pin has two screws lying along its edge and bothsides of each hinge pin may be kept tight at all times. Indeed, themembers may be moved to the position shown in Fig. 1 with the legsattached to the member M, and the legs will stay exactly where they areput, even in a horizontal position. This is accomplished without anybinding.

The legs of the tripod, as indicated generally by the referencecharacter 2| of Fig. 3, are made up of a plurality of mutuallytelescoping members, that is, wherein the lowermost member telescopesinto the member immediately above it and so on in the usual manneruntil, when the legs are fully telescoped, all of the telescoping tubescomprising the legs are nested within the uppermost tubular member. Thenumber of such telescoping members may vary, but will usually run fromfour to six, depending upon the design. The lowermost tubular member isprovided with a foot 22 for resting upon the ground, floor or othergenerally plane surface, and, in accordance with the preferredarrangement, the foot 22 may be fnctionally carried at the bottom end ofthe lower tubular member and be provided with a suitable friction membersuch as a rubber cover, in accordance with usual principles of design.The uppermost tubular member 23 (Fig. 4) is provided with internalthreads 24 for attachment to the threaded portion 26 of the member I4.

Between each pair of tubular members comprising the legs of the tripodare looking p lungers so arranged as to spring out when the tubularmembers are fully extended to engage under the lower edge of theoverlying member and prevent collapsing of the legs. These plungers mustbe released by suitable means such as grasping with the fingers in orderto collapse the legs of the tripod and I provide means associated withthe tripod itself for securing this result. Referring now to Fig. 4, inwhich the upper portion of the leg of the tripod is shown in section onan enlarged scale, within the tubular member 27, -a torsion spring 28 isplaced, to the ends of which locking plungers 29 are secured. Theselocking plungers extend through apertures in the tubular member 2'! and,as shown, are adapted to extend into engagement with the lower edge ofthe upper tubular member 23 when the tubes are entirely extended. Thetorsion spring is held in place by virtue of the fact that the springaction holds the locking plungers 29 in the aperture of tube 21. Byproviding annular formations on the two tubes in the manner indicated,free sliding action is permitted, but the limits to which the tubes maybe withdrawn from each other are established, for example, as thedrawing shows, which is the extreme to which the tubular members may beextended. In this form, there is an annular ridge 31 on the outside ofthe tubular member 21 and an annular ridge 32 of greater area extendinginwardly from the tubular member 23. This forms a pair of shoulderswhich limits the movement of the two tubes. The annular formation 32,how-ever, leaves annular exterior recesses into which an annular ridge33 on a short sleeve 3% extends. This sleeve 34, which functions as areleasing sleeve, is therefore held in position. but allowed limitedlongitudinal movement co-extensive with the width of the formation 32 ofthe tube 23. The normal position of the releasing sleeve 34 is shown infull lines in the drawing. By, however, pulling the sleeve to theposition shown in dotted lines, the locking plungers 29 are forcedinwardly to the position indicated in dotted lines, and the tubularmember 2'! can then be pushed within the tubular member 23 without anyrequirement that the locking plungers be grasped with the fingers. Tocollapse the legs of the tripod, therefore, it is only necessary tograsp the tubular member 21 in one hand and the releasin'g sleeve 35with the fingers of the other hand. By pushing the hands together, thetubular memher 2'! is slid within the tubular member 23 and the smallertubular members can be successively inserted in the same manner untilthe legs are entirely assembled in carrying position.

By employing the features described hereinabove, I have been able tomake an extremely strong, compact, but light and easily handled tripodat considerably less cost than has been necessary with the tripods ofequivalent strength, durability and convenience. The legs may be swungcompletely around their pivots in either direction so as to use eitherside of the camera fastening screw l8. Even after considerable wear, thelegs may be kept tight on their pivots and I have found that, using theconstruction which I employ, sufficient spring is obtained in themembers l and II that usual lock washers and the like are not requiredto prevent loosening of the screws.

While I prefer to utilize all of the novel features described above andfollow substantially the structure disclosed in the drawing, I may makecertain modifications and employ only certain of the features withoutdeparting from the spirit of the invention as expressed in theaccompanying claims.

What I claim as new and desire to protect by Letters Patent of theUnited States is:

1. In a camera tripod, a foot member comprising a plurality of mutuallytelescoping tubes, spring pressed locking plungers carried by one tubeand projecting through ports therein to engage a lower edge of anassociated tube to hold such two tubes in extended relation, and areleasing sleeve disposed over the first-mentioned tube and adapted todepress said locking plungers when moved in relation thereto. 7

2. In a camera tripod, a tube, a second tube adapted to be telescopedwithin the first tube, means to prevent complete withdrawal of thesecond tube, spring pressed locking plungers carried by the second tubefor engagement at the lower edge of the first tube, and a sleeveextending around the lower portion of the first tube and adapted to beslid downwardly to release said plungers.

3. In a camera tripod, a leg member comprising a plurality oftelescoping tubes, locking plungers adapted to engage the lower edge ofeach telescoping tube when the leg is extended, and a slidable meansmounted upon the outer edge of the outermost tube for engaging thecontiguous locking plungers and depressing them to render themineffective.

4. A telescoping member for a camera tripod leg or the like, comprisinga plurality of mutually telescoping tubes, said tubes being of graduateddiameter, and each tube having a sliding fit in the tube of next largestdiameter, except the outermost tube which houses all of said tubes whenin full telescoped relation, each tube except the outermost tube havingspring pressed plungers extending through apertures in the side wallsthereof and engaging a lower edge of the next largest tube whenextended, and a sleeve slidable on said outermost tube to depress theplungers engaging the end of the outermost tube to release said plungersand permit sliding the tube carrying the plungers within the saidoutermost tube.

5. In a camera tripod, a tube, a second tube in telescoping relationwithin the first-mentioned tube, means to prevent complete withdrawal ofthe second-mentioned tube, spring-pressed looking plungers carried bythe second tube engaging against a contiguous edge of the first tubewhen the second tube is withdrawn from the first tube, the parts beingso constructed and arranged that endwise pressure of the tubes in adirection to telescope them is ineffective to release said plungers, andsleeve means carried by the first tube, and of greater diameter thansaid tube, said sleeve means being normally out of contact with saidplungers but capable of engaging and depressing the same when saidsleeve means and plungers are moved relatively to each other.

NORMAN W. REDBAER.

